Housing for a portable electronic device

ABSTRACT

An improved housing configuration for a portable electronic device is provided. The housing includes a flash card slot configured within a battery compartment of the portable electronic device to protect a flash card from outside contaminants. The housing also includes a SIM module, the SIM module having a well to provide for proper alignment with a SIM card, a freely detachable SIM card cover, and a sealing gasket to provide a seal between the well and the SIM card cover. The housing also includes a pen slot, which enables a user to easily remove the pen with a pushing action. The housing further includes a hand strap mount, which can be easily converted into a hip-clip.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional application of application U.S. Ser.No. 09/925,184, filed on Aug. 9, 2001 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,724,618, theentirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully setforth herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to portable electronic devices.In particular the present invention relates an improved housingconfiguration for a portable electronic device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Hand-held portable electronic devices are used in a variety ofapplications, such as, for inventory control or customer servicetransactions, or various other commercial applications to serve as datainput or output devices for central data processing and controlstations. For example, the portable device may provide a route or salesperson with data to the product information, cost information, customerinformation as well as inventory information relating to theavailability of products. Thus, the compact size and ease of operationof the hand-held portable electronic device is important to itsfunction.

Solid state memory in the form of flash memory is generally the storageof choice in a variety of mobile and hand-held devices. Unlike RAM,which is also solid-state memory, flash memory is non-volatile, whichretains its stored data even after power is turned off. Typically, flashmemory cards are freely inserted into an open slot formed in the surfaceof a handheld device. The only protection from contamination of the slotand the memory card is a moveable flap. This flap is not able to providea tight seal to mitigate dust, moisture, and other contaminates fromentering the memory card slot. Such contamination can cause permanentdamage to the memory card and/or to the hand-held portable electronicdevice.

Also included in many portable electronic devices is a SIM (SubscriberIdentity Module) card, which stores all the subscriber-relatedinformation data for the portable electronic device. Generally, SIMcards are available in two types, namely a postage stamp type and acredit card type. Conventional SIM cards, regardless of their type,typically occupy a relatively large area, which is contradictory to thecurrent trend toward manufacturing more compact, lightweight terminals.In the postage stamp type SIM card, a SIM card reader is installed on amain PCB (Printed Circuit Board) of a body and the SIM card iselectrically connected to the SIM card reader by means of a SIM cardcontact device. Consequently, the SIM card reader and contact deviceoccupy a relatively large area on the body of the portable electronicdevice, limiting the compactness of the device body, thereby decreasingproduct competitiveness.

Another feature available for hand-held portable electronic devices is atouch screen and pen combination, which allows a user to inputinformation to the device without the need for keyboard and/or mouseinterfaces. Clip configurations are typically provided on the hand-helddevices to hold the pen in place. The user is thus required to pull onthe pen in order to remove it from the clip configuration.

Accordingly, there is a strong need in the art to provide an improvedhousing configuration for a hand-held portable electronic device toovercome the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order toprovide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. Thissummary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is intended toneither identify key or critical elements of the invention nor delineatethe scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some conceptsof the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detaileddescription that is presented later.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a flash card slot isprovided in a portable electronic device. The flash card slot is locatedwithin a compartment of the portable electronic device to protect theflash card from outside contaminants. The flash card slot also includesan ejection mechanism coupled to the slot to provide for easy removal ofthe flash card.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a SIM module isprovided in a portable electronic device. The SIM module includes, a SIMcontact device and a SIM card coupled to the SIM contact device. A SIMcard cover is employed to protect the SIM card and to maintain a closeconnection between the SIM contact device and the SIM card. A sealinggasket is coupled to the SIM card cover to provide a better seal.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a system forattaching a pen to a housing of a portable electronic device isprovided. The system includes a pen and a slot having an open topportion and an open bottom portion, the slot adapted to secure the peninto a position. The pen is then easily removed from the slot by pushingthe pen up and out of the slot from the open bottom portion.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a system isprovided for attaching a pen to a housing of a portable electronicdevice. The system comprises a pen, means for securing the pen; andmeans for enabling the pen to be pushed out of the means for securingthe pen.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a housing fora portable electronic device includes a compact flash card slot, a SIMmodule, and a pen slot. The compact flash card slot and the SIM moduleare located within a battery compartment of the portable electronicdevice. The SIM module includes a SIM card cover freely detachable fromthe SIM module and securable to the SIM module with a screw. The penslot is adapted to enable a pen to be pushed out of the slot from abottom opening in the slot.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a system forconverting a hand strap mount of a portable electronic device into ahip-clip is provided. The system includes a hand strap mount forsecuring a hand strap to the housing of the portable electronic deviceand a mushroom part. The mushroom part is coupled to the hand strapmount and is adapted to fit into a receiver, which attaches to a user'sbelt.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a system isprovided for converting a hand strap mount of a portable electronicdevice into a hip-clip. The system comprises means for mounting a handstrap; and means for converting the means for mounting a hand strap intomeans for securing the portable electronic device to a belt.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the inventionthen, comprises the features hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims. The following description andthe annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative aspects ofthe invention. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few ofthe various ways in which the principles of the invention may beemployed and the present invention is intended to include all suchaspects and their equivalents. Other objects, advantages and novelfeatures of the invention will become apparent from the followingdetailed description of the invention when considered in conjunctionwith the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a compact flash card and compact flashcard slot in accordance with one aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a compact flash card and compact flashcard slot in accordance with one aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an ejection mechanism for a compactflash card slot in accordance with one aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a battery compartment of a mobileterminal in accordance with one aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a front view of a SIM module in accordance with one aspect ofthe present invention;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a SIM module in accordance with anotheraspect of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a SIM module in accordance with oneaspect of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a SIM card cover in accordance with oneaspect of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a SIM card cover in accordance with oneaspect of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a front view of a mobile terminal in accordance with oneaspect of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a perspective back view of a mobile terminal in accordancewith one aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a front view of a component of a hip-clip in accordance withone aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a side view of a component of a hip-clip in accordance withone aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a front view of a hip-clip receiver in accordance with oneaspect of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a side view of a hip-clip receiver in accordance with oneaspect of the present invention; and

FIG. 16 is a schematic block diagram of a general operation of a mobileterminal in accordance with one aspect of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will now be described with reference to thedrawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to likeelements throughout.

Referring initially to FIGS. 1 and 2, a flash card slot 10 is providedfor a portable electronic device in accordance with one aspect of thepresent invention. The portable electronic device in this example is ahand-held mobile terminal 20 used in a wireless communication networkfor tracking inventory, storing data, etc. The flash card slot 10 isconfigured to receive a compact flash card 30. The compact flash card 30is a small format flash memory card that is 36 mm×43 mm×3.3 mm, thesurface area of which is approximately ⅓ the surface area of thestandard PC Card. The compact flash card is employed as a memory storagemedium for the hand-held mobile terminal. However, it is to beappreciated that the flash card slot can be configured to receive anyother type and size of memory card for a portable electronic device, forexample, a smart media card or a PCMCIA card.

In order to provide protection for the compact flash card 30 fromoutside contaminants, the flash card slot 10 is located within a batterycompartment 40 of the hand-held mobile terminal 20. The batterycompartment 40 will be described in further detail later. The locationof the compact flash card slot 10 within the battery compartment 40mitigates the possibility of foreign particles getting inside the flashcard slot 10. If data transfer ports on compact flash cards arecontaminated by liquids, salt deposits and/or abrasive particles, forexample, retrieval of information stored on the cards may bejeopardized, and the memory cards may actually damage the electronicdevices into which the cards are inserted. Additionally, staticdischarge onto the data transfer ports of the flash cards may destroydata stored within the cards. Thus, the flash card slot 10 in accordancewith one aspect of the present invention facilitates ease of access tothe compact flash card 30 while also protecting the card 30 frompotential damage and/or contamination.

Adjacent the insertion end of the flash card 30, on the back side of thecard 30, are a plurality of data transfer ports (not shown) that may beisolated metal contacts. To mitigate a user inserting the compact flashcard 30 into the electronic device upside down, or backwards, one cornerof the insertion end of the card 30 may be a non-right angle, orasymmetrical corner (not shown). If the compact flash card 30 werealigned so that the data transfer or back surface was hidden from auser, and the insertion edge was the top edge, then a top right cornerwould be the asymmetrical corner. The top left corner is symmetrical tothe bottom left corner, and the two bottom corners are symmetrical toeach other. By industry standards, however, the top right corner ofknown flash cards is asymmetrical, which may mean that the corner isformed of two angles totaling ninety degrees.

As shown in FIG. 3, an ejection mechanism 50 is provided in the flashcard slot 10 to easily remove the compact flash card 30 from the slot10. According to one example, the ejection mechanism 50 comprises anejecting shaft 60 disposed in the hand-held mobile terminal 20 in such amanner as to be slidable along the inserting and ejecting direction ofthe flash card 30 into which the flash card 30 is inserted. An arm 70having a bent portion at one end is disposed in such a manner that thecenter portion of the arm 70 is rotatably supported by a resinous frame.The other end of the arm 70 is connected to the ejecting shaft 60. Thebent portion of the arm 70 is formed in such a manner as to touch aportion of the compact flash card 30 (which portion is located alongsidethe signal-contact of the memory card), and to hold the flash card 30inserted into the slot 10. In ejecting the compact flash card 30 fromthe flash card slot 20 having the above structure, the ejecting shaft 60is pushed with a finger along the inserting direction of the flash card30. The pushing force applied to the ejecting shaft 60 is conveyed tothe bent portion of the arm 70, whereby the bent portion is moved alongthe ejecting direction touching the portion aside the signal-contact ofthe compact flash card 30, so that the flash card 30 is ejected. In theabove description, the flash card 30 is ejected by the pushing forceapplied to the ejecting shaft 60. However, the above structure forsuppressing the ejection of the compact flash card 30 is applicable to aflash card slot having the structure for ejecting the flash card 30 withthe resilient force of a spring, which moves the flash card 30 along theejecting direction of the flash card 30 when the flash card 30 isseparated from the bent portion by pushing the ejecting shaft 60.Furthermore, the ejection mechanism may be of any other structureoperable to eject a memory card from flash card slot and is contemplatedas falling within the scope of the present invention.

In FIG. 4, a battery compartment 80 of a hand-held mobile terminal 90 isshown in accordance with one aspect of the present invention. Thebattery compartment 80 contains a gasket 100 to provide a tight sealbetween the housing of the hand-held mobile terminal and a cover 105 forthe battery compartment 80. The gasket 100 is provided around theperimeter of the opening of the battery compartment 80 and is operableto keep out contamination, which might otherwise enter the batterycompartment 80 from the outside and thereby affect performance of themobile terminal 90. The gasket 100 may be of rubber, foam, or any otherelastomer, operable to sufficiently seal the battery compartment 80 ofthe hand-held mobile terminal 90. This seal mitigates dust and othercontaminates from entering the clean environment of the batterycompartment 80. The battery compartment cover 105 includes two lockingtabs 108 on each side of the cover 105 to secure the battery compartmentcover 105 to the mobile terminal 90. It is to be appreciated that anyconfiguration used to secure the battery compartment cover 105 to themobile terminal 90 may be employed.

A rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack 110 is located in the batterycompartment 80 of the mobile terminal 90 and is adapted to be easilyremovable and installable. It is to be appreciated that the battery pack110 may be of any type (e.g., Nickel-Cadmium, Nickel-Metal-Hydride)depending upon the application at hand. The battery pack 110 providespower to the hand-held mobile terminal 90 through electrical contacts120 and 130 designed to correspond to contacts (not shown) located inthe mobile terminal 90. Preferably, the contacts are made of a highlyconductive metal that is resistant to corrosion, such as, for example,Nickel Plated Beryllium Copper.

Also included within the battery compartment 80 is a SIM (SubscriberIdentity Module) card 140, which stores all the subscriber-relatedinformation data for the hand-held mobile terminal 90. The SIM card 140,which may be of postage stamp type, module type or IC type, is locatedin the battery compartment 80 of the mobile terminal 90, as opposed toin the body of the terminal 90, to provide greater protection fromoutside contaminants and to use space within the hand-held mobileterminal 90 more efficiently. The SIM card 140 is comprised of a powerreceiver, a memory for reading and writing data, a ground, and a dummy.A SIM card contact device 150 is connected to a SIM card reader andincludes a housing, a cover, a hinge, and a plurality of terminals. TheSIM card 140 can be freely detached from the SIM card contact device150. The SIM card contact device 150 is preferably mechanically fixed onthe SIM card reader so as not to protrude upward with respect to thesurface of the base, by inserting protrusions (not shown) formed at thefour corners of the SIM card contact device 150 into holes of the SIMcard reader. Terminals may be soldered onto the SIM card reader, orfixed in other ways such as through a terminal block, to maintainelectrical connection.

The SIM card 140 is inserted under a SIM card cover 160, which isattached to the SIM card contact device 150. Turning now to FIG. 5, thecover 160 is attached by and rotates on hinges 170. When the cover 160is closed, a locking mechanism 180 slidably moves in a directionindicated by 190 until the cover 160 is locked into the housing. Thus,the SIM card 140 is fixedly held in the housing. To remove the SIM card140 from the housing, the above procedure is performed in a reverseorder. That is, the locking mechanism is slidably moved in a directionopposite to that indicated by 190 and the cover 160 rotates upward fromthe housing. The SIM card 140 can then be removed if necessary. Asdescribed above, the SIM card 140, which stores data for subscriberidentification, is detachably incorporated in the battery compartment 80so that the space required for the SIM card 140, SIM card contact device150, and SIM card reader on the body is decreased, providing a morecompact body. Configuring the SIM card 140 and the SIM card reader as amodule type or an IC type built in the battery compartment may alsoobtain the same result. Further, the configuration of the presentinvention offers the advantage of user convenience.

In accordance with another aspect of the current invention, a SIM moduleis shown with respect to FIGS. 6–9. Turning now to FIG. 6, an alternateaspect of the SIM cover 160 as described with reference to FIGS. 4 and5, is shown. Here, a SIM module is similarly configured within a batterycompartment 200 of a mobile terminal 210. However, the SIM card coverassembly 220 in this example is completely removable from the SIMmodule. The SIM card cover assembly 220 is held in place by a screw 225.Although, it is to be appreciated that any other type of mechanism, asnap fit, for example, may be used to secure the SIM card cover assembly220 in place. As shown in FIG. 7, when the SIM card cover assemble 220is removed, a SIM card 230 can be placed in, or removed from, a well 240in the SIM module. The structure of the well 240 allows for properalignment of the SIM card 220 with a SIM connector 245. The well 240 isprovided with side walls corresponding to a perimeter of the SIM card230. The well 240 receives the SIM card 230 and, thus, mitigates the SIMcard 230 from shifting laterally out of contact with the SIM connector245. The well 240 and the SIM card 230 are provided with alignment edgessuch as a cropped corner 250 to facilitate proper alignment of the SIMcard 230 in the SIM connector 245. However, it is to be appreciated thatany suitable alignment structure could be used and this aspect of theinvention is not meant to be limited to the cropped corner 250 shown inFIG. 7. Examples of other alignment structures include other keyarrangements such as a tab and slot, pin and hole, etc.

Referring now to FIGS. 8 and 9, the SIM card cover assembly 220 is shownin greater detail in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.The SIM card cover assembly 220 generally comprises a SIM card cover260, a sealing gasket 270 and a screw 225. On a side of a SIM card cover260 facing the SIM card 230, there is provided one or more urgingprotrusions 280 that are adapted to urge the SIM card 230 intoengagement with the SIM connector 245 when the SIM card cover assembly220 is secured to the SIM module. In the closed position as shown inFIG. 6, the SIM card 230 engages one or more contacts of the SIMconnector 245. The contacts are electrically coupled with the hand-heldmobile terminal's 210 printed circuit board (PCB). The sealing gasket270 is utilized to create a seal between the SIM card cover 260 and thewell 240, which houses the SIM card 230. The sealing gasket 270 isoperable to account for variations in tolerance present in the matingparts of the SIM card cover 260 and the well 240. The gasket 270 may beof rubber, foam, or any other elastomer, operable to provide a sealbetween the mating parts of the SIM card cover 260 and the well 240. TheSIM card cover 260 and sealing gasket 270 is secured to the well 240 bya screw 225. However, it is to be appreciated that any other appropriatecoupling may be used to secure the SIM module components together. Whenthe SIM card cover assembly 220 is closed and secured, the SIM card 230is then properly engaged. No additional locking mechanism is required tocontain the SIM card 230. The additional hinge and locking components asdescribed above are unnecessary in this example, thus, decreasingcomponent and assembly costs for the SIM module.

Turning now to FIGS. 10 and 11, pictorial representations of front andback views, respectively, of a hand-held mobile terminal 290 are shown.The user may input and/or process data via a keypad, bar code scanner,etc. independent of the hand-held mobile terminal 290 being connected toa LAN, for example. When the mobile terminal 290 does not include aradio to provide for real time communications of data to a LAN, the datais stored in memory within the hand-held mobile terminal 290. In suchcircumstances, when the mobile terminal 290 is eventually connected to aLAN, the data can be transmitted to a host computer (not shown). It willbe appreciated that the portable device could also be any other devicethat is portable in nature and having electronic circuitry therein inaccordance with the present invention. For example, the portable devicecould be a laptop computer or notebook computer, a PDA, or even acellular telephone or pager, which includes a compact flash card and/orSIM card.

In FIG. 10, the mobile terminal 290 includes a housing 300, a touchscreen 310 and a set of user interface keys 320. Both the touch screen310 and the user interface keys 320 can be used for allowing a user toinput information and/or operational commands. The touch screen 310 isfurther used to display information to the user and may employcapacitive, resistive touch, infrared, surface acoustic wave, orgrounded acoustic wave technology. The user interface keys 320 mayinclude a full alphanumeric keypad, function keys, enter keys, etc. Thedescribed components 310 and 320 are located in the housing 300 that isan elongated enclosure of a size and includes such contours as toconveniently fit into the open palm of the user. The housing 300 may becomprised of a number of shell portions such as for example front andrear shells 330 and 340 (FIGS. 10 and 11) as well as a batterycompartment cover 350 (FIG. 11). A speaker 360 is also included totransmit and/or receive audio information to and from the user.

Turning now to FIG. 11, a perspective back view of the mobile terminal290 is shown. The mobile terminal 290 includes a pen slot 370 forholding a pen 380, which can be utilized to activate the touch screen310. The pen slot 370 is designed so that a user is able to push the pen370 out of the slot 370 rather than needing to pull the pen 370 out bythe clip end, as is done in conventional designs. The pen slot 370 islocated at the back of the hand-held mobile terminal 290, however it isto be appreciated that the pen slot 370 may be located anywhere on themobile terminal 290. Openings are provided at the top and bottom of thepen slot 370, in which the top and bottom portions of the pen 380 areaccessible. Thus, the user can insert the pen 380 into the top openingof the pen slot 370 until the pen 380 is fitted securely within the slot370. The pen 380 may be wider at one end, for example, due to a clip 385located at the end, so as to mitigate the pen 380 from slidingcompletely through the pen slot 370. The opposite end of the pen 380 isvisible through the bottom opening of the pen slot 370 when the pen 380is fully secured within the slot 370. With this configuration, the pen370 can be removed from the pen slot 370 by a pushing action applied tothe bottom portion of the pen 380, thus, pushing the pen 380 upward andout of the slot 370. As a result, the removal of the pen 380 from theslot 370 is easier and quicker than the pulling method employed byconventional designs.

A hand strap 390 can also be included on the backside of the hand-heldmobile terminal 290 for user comfort. The hand strap 390 may be attachedto top and bottom portions of the hand-held mobile terminal 290. Themobile terminal may also include a “hip-clip” to allow a user to couplethe hand-held mobile terminal to the user's belt. According to oneaspect of the present invention, a mount 391 for the hand strap can beconverted to a hip-clip. The mount can be converted to the hip-clip witha longer screw and a mushroom part. An example of a mushroom part isshown with respect to FIGS. 12 and 13. FIG. 12 illustrates a front viewof the mushroom part 392. The mushroom part 392 is substantiallycylindrical in shape with a recessed mid portion 393. The recessed midportion 393 is also substantially cylindrical and can be better seen inFIG. 13, which illustrates a side view of the mushroom part 392. A hole394 is provided through the center of the mushroom part 392 and isadapted to receive a screw for mounting the mushroom part 392 to thehand-held mobile terminal 290. It is to be appreciated that the mushroompart 392 may be of any shape with a recessed mid portion, such as asquare, and is contemplated as falling within the scope of the presentinvention. Furthermore, the mushroom part 392 may be mounted to thehand-held mobile terminal 290 in any other manner sufficient to securethe mushroom part 392 to the terminal 290. In accordance with one aspectof the present invention, the hand strap mount 391 of the mobileterminal 290 is converted to the hip-clip by removing the screw in thehand strap mount 391, positioning the mushroom part 392 over the handstrap mount 391, and using a longer screw to secure the mushroom part392 to the terminal 290.

Turning now to FIGS. 14 and 15, a front view and side view,respectively, of a hip-clip receiver 396 is shown. The hip-clip receiverhas a lip 397 adapted to receive the recessed mid portion 393 of themushroom part 392. Thus, the hip-clip can be easily secured and removedfrom the hip-clip receiver 396 in a slidable motion. The hip-clipreceiver 396 also includes a clip portion 398 to secure the receiver 396to a belt or waistband. Thus, allowing the mobile terminal 290 to becoupled to a user's belt or waistband without the need for aconventional holster.

Turning back to FIG. 11, the mobile terminal 290 further includes awindow 405 in which a bar code reader is able to read a bar code label,or the like, presented to the mobile terminal 290. The mobile terminal290 can include a LED (not shown) that is illuminated to reflect whetherthe bar code has been properly or improperly read. Alternatively, oradditionally, a sound may be emitted from the speaker 360 to alert theuser that the bar code has been successfully imaged and decoded.

Turning now to FIG. 16, a schematic representation according to oneaspect of the present invention is shown in which a processor 410 isresponsible for controlling the general operation of a hand-held mobileterminal 420. The processor 410 is programmed to control and operate thevarious components within the mobile terminal 420 in order to carry outthe various functions described herein. The processor or CPU 410 can beany of a plurality of suitable processors. The manner in which theprocessor 410 can be programmed to carry out the functions relating tothe present invention will be readily apparent to those having ordinaryskill in the art based on the description provided herein.

A memory 430 tied to the processor 410 is also included in the hand-heldmobile terminal 420 and serves to store program code executed by theprocessor 410 for carrying out operating functions of the hand-heldmobile terminal 420 as described herein. The memory 430 also serves as astorage medium for temporarily storing information such as receipttransaction information and the like. The memory 430 is adapted to storea complete set of the information to be displayed. According to oneaspect, the memory 430 has sufficient capacity to store multiple sets ofinformation, and the processor 410 could include a program foralternating or cycling between various sets of display information. Adisplay 440 is coupled to the processor 410 via a display driver system445. The display 440 may be a liquid crystal display (LCD) or the like.In this example, the display 440 is a ¼ VGA display with 16 levels ofgray scale. The display 440 functions to display data or otherinformation relating to ordinary operation of the hand-held mobileterminal 420. For example, the display 440 may display a set of customerinformation, which is displayed to the operator and may be transmittedover a system backbone (not shown). Additionally, the display 440 maydisplay a variety of functions that control the execution of the mobileterminal 420. The display 440 is capable of displaying both alphanumericand graphical characters. Power is provided to the processor 410 andother components forming the hand-held mobile terminal 420 by a batterypack 450. In the event that the battery pack 450 fails or becomesdisconnected from the mobile terminal 420, a supplemental power source460 provides power to the processor 410. The mobile terminal 420 mayenter a minimum current draw of sleep mode upon detection of a batteryfailure.

The mobile terminal 420 includes a communication subsystem 470 thatincludes a data communication port 480, which is employed to interfacethe processor 410 with the main computer. The mobile terminal 420 alsooptionally includes an RF section 490 connected to the processor 410.The RF section 490 includes an RF receiver 500, which receives RFtransmissions from the main computer for example via an antenna 510 anddemodulates the signal to obtain digital information modulated therein.The RF section 490 also includes an RF transmitter 520 for transmittinginformation to the main computer, for example, in response to anoperator input at a keypad 530 or the completion of a transaction.Peripheral devices, such as a printer 540, signature pad 550, andmagnetic stripe reader 560, can also be coupled to the mobile terminal420 through the processor 410.

Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to acertain preferred aspect or aspects, equivalent alterations andmodifications will occur to others skilled in the art upon reading andunderstanding this specification and the annexed drawings. In particularregard to the various functions performed by the above describedcomponents (systems, assemblies, systems, etc.), the terms used todescribe such components are intended to correspond, unless otherwiseindicated, to any component which performs the specified function of thedescribed component (i.e., that is functionally equivalent), even thoughnot structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performsthe function in the herein illustrated exemplary aspect or aspects ofthe invention. In addition, while a particular feature of the inventionmay have been described above with respect to only one of severalaspects, such feature may be combined with one or more other features ofthe other aspects, as may be desired and advantageous for any given orparticular application. Furthermore, to the extent that the term“includes” is used in either the detailed description or the claims,such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term“comprising”.

1. A housing for a portable electronic unit comprising: a mount thatsecures a hand strap to the housing, the mount attachable to aconverting component to provide a hip-clip that secures the portableelectronic unit to a user's belt; and a slot formed as part of thehousing, the slot with an ejection mechanism that removably accepts acompact flash card.
 2. The housing of claim 1, the hip-clip comprising:a lip portion that engages with the converting component; and a clipportion attachable to a belt of the user.
 3. The housing of claim 2, theconverting component has a substantially cylindrical shape with arecessed mid portion.
 4. The housing of claim 2, the convertingcomponent has a substantially squared shape with a recessed mid portion.5. The housing of claim 1 further comprising a pen compartment with aslot that enables a pen to be pushed out therefrom or thereinto.
 6. Thehousing of claim 1, the converting component is mushroom shaped.
 7. Aportable electronic device comprising: a housing with a mount thatsecures a hand strap thereto, the mount removably attachable to aconverting component to form a hip-clip that secures the portableelectronic unit to a user's belt; and a pen slot formed as part of thehousing, the pen slot guides a sliding pen into a secure position withinthe portable electronic device.
 8. A housing for a portable electronicunit comprising: a mount that secures a hand strap to the housing, themount attachable to a converting component to form a hip-clip thatsecures the portable electronic unit to a user's belt; and a slot thatreceives a flash card, the slot located in a compartment formed as partof the housing.
 9. The housing of claim 8, the slot formed as part of abattery compartment of the housing.
 10. The housing of claim 8, thehip-clip comprises a mushroom part that couples to the hand strap mount.11. A housing for a portable electronic device, comprising: mountingmeans for mounting a hand strap to the housing; means for attaching themounting means to a converting means, for securing the portableelectronic device to a user's belt, and means for housing a pen.
 12. Thehousing of claim 11 further comprising means for ejecting a flash cardfrom a slot of the housing.